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If you've been anxious to try Apple's Photos app and kick iPhoto to the curb, you now have a (relatively) easy way to do it. The Mac maker has just released the first public beta of OS X Yosemite 10.10.3, which includes the simpler, streamlined imaging tool as a matter of course. This test release is bound to be rough around the edges (don't trust it with your irreplaceable pictures, folks), but it's worth a go if you're willing to experiment and want to know what all the fuss is about.

A mobile payment system is only as secure as its weakest link... and in the case of Apple Pay, it's the banks' ability to verify who you are. The Guardian has learned that thieves are setting up iPhones with stolen IDs and taking advantage of lackadaisical identity checks (often just a part of the social security number) to provision victims' cards for Apple Pay. After that, it's open season -- crooks just have to claim that the legitimate card owner is on a trip to go on a shopping spree.

If you're jonesing for an Apple Watch, you probably want to do a lot with it. But what if you're headed out to a party and would rather not risk staring at a dead screen when you're wondering how late it is? Don't worry, you're covered. The New York Timesunderstands that the Watch has an unannounced Power Reserve option that limits the device to telling time. While it's not a completely unique feature (other watches do similar things), it's definitely helpful -- and it's a departure for Apple, whose mobile devices haven't had these kinds of extreme energy-saving modes until now. Tim Cook and crew aren't likely to make a big deal of Power Reserve at Apple's March 9th event, assuming it shows up, but it could be one of the Watch's most important real-world features.

Despite a number of exciting (and novel) announcements related to battery technology, the sad fact is that our smartphones still need to be frequently charged. One thing that hasn't helped in prolonging the lives of our devices is a trend toward ever thinner phones. In some cases, it seems like things are getting too thin. What if we could get some extra battery life in exchange for a few extra millimeters of padding? Would you do it? Head over to the Engadget forums and let us know what you think!

You know the drill. Apple issues an invite for an event, and tech media channels go wild with speculation. Except that we know the event in question this time, scheduled for March 9, is almost certainly about the Apple Watch. How? Well, we already know it's slated for an April release, so there's that. Oh and a not-so-subtle "spring forward" message the invite contains. Apple losing its cryptic touch? Maybe, but it's not unknown for Cook and crew to throw in a few surprises (but please, no more musical "surprises"). Engadget will of course be there to find out, with a liveblog so you can follow along too. Just don't forget to change your (non Apple) watch an hour, or you'll miss the whole darn thing.

Despite attempts to curb patent trolls, at least some of them are getting lucky -- and this week, one got very lucky. A Texas court has ordered Apple to pay a whopping $532.9 million to Smartflash, a holding company which sued over claims that iTunes (specifically its copy protection, payment systems and storage) violates its patents. The Cupertino crew allegedly abused the inventions on purpose, in part because one of its execs was briefed on them over a decade ago.

Apple is reportedly readying substantial changes to how it runs its Genius Bar support service in-stors, according to 9to5Mac. While the current walk-in system requires the customer to explain the issue then be given an appointment soon after, the new 'Concierge' service (as it'll apparently be called) will tap into special algorithms to offer support for customers, giving wait time based on priority. As 9to5Mac puts it, a broken iPhone screen would receive higher priority than a small issue with iCloud when the phone itself still works fine. Employees will input the customers' issues, and the system will do the rest.

If you're disappointed that current emoji characters don't reflect your skin tone, don't worry: Apple is getting ready to accommodate you. Both the latest betas of iOS 8.3 and OS X 10.10.3 include modifiers that let you choose the skin color of some icons. There are more flags, too. And Apple couldn't resist being cheeky -- you'll now see an Apple Watch in place of an ordinary timepiece, just as it already replaces generic phone pictures with an iPhone.

Unless you've opted for a pocket-busting phone, you can probably still see the utility of having a tablet to handle books, movies or even a bit of on-the-go productivity. There are plenty of options for different budgets, and we've lined up our top picks to help you find your next. Dell's sharp new Venue 8 7000 nails the visuals with its high-res OLED screen and RealSense 3D camera, while the obvious choice for powerful, portable computing is still Microsoft's Surface Pro 3. Apple retains a top spot in the tablet world with its slim and speedy iPad Air 2 (we're still championing the last-gen iPad mini 2 over its higher-priced successor). Gamers have an option too, with NVIDIA's powerful Shield Android tablet. You can check out the full rundown in our complete buyer's guide, but if you just want to quickly flip through some of the best tablets on the market, head to the gallery below.%Gallery-slideshow268270%

If you're hoping to get a Toyota car with Apple's CarPlay system built-in, you'll have to hit the aftermarket, according to a New York Times report. Toyota said that "right now, we prefer to use our in-house proprietary platforms for those kinds of functions," adding that it currently has no plans to use either CarPlay or Android Auto, at least in the US. Though that's a small glitch in Cupertino's ambitious plans, other automakers are more bullish on it. Ford, for one, said that it'll start offering both Apple and Google's infotainment systems on select vehicles this year, and will make both systems available on all US cars by next year.

Los Angeles' one-time dream of giving every student an iPad (or any device, for that matter) just got dashed. The city's school district superintendent, Ramon Cortines, tells the press that he doesn't believe LA "can afford" gadgets for each student. Instead, schools will fall back on a more conservative model that doles out hardware when kids need it for lessons and tests. The move is unfortunate if you like the idea of young learners having their own laptops and tablets, but there's no question that reviving earlier plans would have been daunting. The iPad effort was going to be expensive ($1.3 billion, at last count), and it ran into problems with misuse almost as soon as it began. Cortines suggests that the initiative reduced education to a "gimmick of the year" -- to him, device programs have to be sustainable.

Don't call it a comeback. Okay, maybe you should: Google wants to revive Wallet after seeing how popular Apple Pay has been, according to The Wall Street Journal. To do so, Mountain View is apparently in the early stages of a deal to take ownership of the carrier-owned Softcard as part of this Lazarus act for its mobile payment system. Previously, carriers in the United States were reticent to preload Wallet onto their devices because, at the time, they were trying to launch ISIS, going so far as to block the chip that stores credit card info. Times are different now, as WSJ tells it, because neither AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon gets a cut from Cupertino with surprise hit Apple Pay -- something that'd change by working with Google. How's that? The internet behemoth will reportedly pay them to feature Wallet on their Android phones and give them a bigger cut of the money it makes off of ads that live inside mobile searches.

Worried that the next iOS update could repeat last year's glitchy rollout of iOS 8? We imagine the folks in Cupertino feel the same way, and according to a report from 9to5Mac, they plan to avoid it by adding public beta tests to the mix. Specifically, the move will mirror its early test of OS X Yosemite, with iOS 8.3 getting a preview in mid-March, and then iOS 9 over the summer. Those willing to risk some stability to help out can sign up for the AppleSeed program here although that doesn't assure inclusion -- the test will reportedly be limited to 100,000 people.

How do you make a smartwatch appeal to the fashion set? By bringing it into their natural habitat: Ridiculously expensive retailers in fashion hubs. French news sites are reporting (via 9to5Mac) that Apple is setting up booths for the Apple Watch within high-end Paris stores like Galeries Lafayette (above) on the Champs Elysees. Don't forget that Apple isn't just targeting tech geeks with its smartwatch, it's also aiming at the same deep-pocketed consumers that keep the Swiss watch industry alive. To compete with the likes of Rolex and Richemont (whose watch brands include Cartier and Piaget), it needs to be in the same stores. And while the Apple Watch will start at $350, its fancier steel and gold versions will push its price into territory that the company's traditional devotees might have a tough time stomaching. Judging from the reports we've heard, the steel watch could go for more than $500, while the gold Apple Watch Edition could go for several thousand dollars.

Did you snag a MacBook Pro before 2014 only to run into corrupted video, no video at all or spontaneous reboots? You won't have to shell out for a fix if you're out of warranty. After more than a year of reports, Apple is launching a repair program that will mend your laptop for free if its graphics are going haywire. You're covered so long as you bought a 15- or 17-inch MacBook Pro between early 2011 and the end of 2013, including the first two generations of Retina models. The program will be available as of February 20th if you're in the US or Canada, and a week later in the rest of the world. Only a "small percentage" of systems are affected, Apple says, but it won't hurt to check coverage even if everything is hunky dory.

Are you thinking about putting together a new PC? Check out our handy guide to help get started. In other news, some Lenovo PCs have been found shipping with factory-installed adware, Sony could scrap its mobile business and a new lawsuit filed against Apple alleges that the company poached a number of engineers for an electric car battery project. All that and more can be found just past the break.

In today's Apple Car rumor update, Bloomberg has chimed in with sources spouting more knowledge about the "Titan" electric vehicle project supposedly under way in Cupertino. According to the report, the team is up to about 200 people, with experts on batteries and robotic technology joining recently. While A123 and Tesla may have an idea where some of those battery experts came from, even this rumor has the caveat that execs could scrap or delay it, but that the team is working on having a vehicle ready by 2020. This has been your daily Apple Car rumor update.

Did you hear that Apple might be working on a car, or at least something that heavily involves cars? It's reportedly already got quite a team working away at the project. But, those employees had to come from somewhere, right? According to a lawsuit from electric car battery maker A123 Systems, Apple has been poaching its best engineers, apparently to work in a battery division of its own. The company alleges poaching started back in June 2014, with Apple drawing away lead engineers from the battery maker's "most critical projects." According to the filing from Massachusetts federal court: "Apple is currently developing a large-scale battery division to compete in the very same field as A123."

In the bid to produce the hottest take on Apple's rumored automotive project, former CEO of General Motors Dan Akerson has submitted himself for the "telling people why Apple can't do it" award. In an interview with Bloomberg, Akerson pointed out that the car industry is "harder than people realize", with low margins and tough safety regulations. Of course, as many have pointed out, this hill is littered with the remains of execs who have said what things Apple can't do or dominate, like phones (Ed Colligan, Palm; Jim Balsillie, RIM; Steve Ballmer, Microsoft) and we know how that story went.

It's been a few months since we added anything to the laptop section of our buyer's guide, so we figured it was time for an update. Dell's new XPS 13 was a standout at CES this year, offering a nearly bezel-less 13-inch display packed into an 11-inch machine. It weighs just 2.6 pounds, too, putting it on par with Lenovo's equally svelte Yoga 3 Pro. If price is a factor, HP's Stream 11 is a great deal at just $200. This so-called Chromebook killer may not be the fastest, but it's able to run regular Windows applications and has a funky design, to boot. If gaming is your focus, MSI's GT72 Dominator is also worth a look. Not only are we fans of its build (and battery life), but when you opt for top-of-the-line internals, it's a beast of a machine. As usual, there are plenty of other stalwarts to be found in the guide, some of which have recently been refreshed with Intel's new Broadwell processors. If you just want a quick look, you can scroll through all the items in the accompanying gallery. %Gallery-slideshow267595%

ABC was the first big network first out of the gate with a 24/7 live streaming app, but CBS and now NBC are close behind with their own versions. NBC rolled out "TV Everywhere" streaming on its website in December, and tonight it's pushed upgrades on Android and iOS that bring the network channel directly to mobile screens -- but only if you have a participating cable or satellite provider's login. Even that's not enough, unfortunately, since it's only available in areas where NBC owns the local station. Where I live the affiliate (WDIV) is owned by someone else, so the feature is not available until the two parties work out some kind of arrangement.

It's a lot easier uploading files to Dropbox now, assuming you use an iPhone or an iPad loaded with iOS 8. This latest update adds an action extension to apps like Photos and Notes, letting you upload files directly instead of having to (ugh) fire up the cloud service first, navigate to "Add Files" and find what you want to save. You will have to set it up after downloading the newest version, but it's not that hard: just open up Photos or Notes, click the upload arrow button, choose More (...) from the bottom row of icons, and toggle on "Save to Dropbox." Easy peasy. As a nice extra feature, you'll also be able to open PDFs you click on websites through the cloud storage app, giving you a way to view them on a more desktop-like interface.

Welcome to the Daily Roundup. Security researchers discovered NSA surveillance software in the firmware of some new hard drives. In other news, a UK company works on a self-driving shuttle for public transit and an Apple patent filed in 2008 shows the company has long been interested in VR displays. Catch up on all of today's top stories past the break.

Apple may not be nearly as enamored with virtual reality as Facebook, Google or Samsung, but that doesn't mean it's uninterested -- it's clearer than ever that Cupertino has been intrigued for years. The USPTO has granted Apple a patent (originally filed way back in 2008) for a headset design that uses your iPhone as a virtual reality display. The basic concept bears more than a small resemblance to Samsung's Gear VR. You slot your phone into a cradle that sits in front of your eyes, and an external controller (in this case, a remote) helps you navigate when motion tracking isn't enough.